Tortoise Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 78.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $65,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the third quarter worth about $313,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the third quarter worth about $221,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 147,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,329,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the third quarter worth about $29,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EFX. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.13.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX stock opened at $250.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $31.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.79, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.32. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.